CARBON EMISSIONS ROSE 5.9 PERCENT IN 2010

CO2 EMISSIONS IN 2010 SHOW
BIGGEST INCREASE EVER RECORDED

www.nytimes.com - Global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning jumped by the largest amount on record last year, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery.  Emissions rose 5.9 percent in 2010, according to an analysis released Sunday by the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists tracking the numbers. Scientists with the group said the increase, a half-billion extra tons of carbon pumped into the air, was almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution, and the largest percentage increase since 2003.  The researchers said the high growth rate reflected a bounce-back from the 1.4 percent drop in emissions in 2009, the year the recession had its biggest impact. 

The new figures come as delegates from 191 countries meet in Durban, South Africa, for yet another negotiating session in a global control effort that has been going on, with minimal success, for the better part of two decades. The growth rate in the 1990s was closer to 1 percent yearly. In the United States, emissions dropped by a remarkable 7 percent in the recession year of 2009, but rose by just over 4 percent last year, the new analysis shows. This country is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, pumping 1.5 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere last year.  The United States was surpassed several years ago by China, where emissions grew 10.4 percent in 2010, with that country injecting 2.2 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide emissions are usually measured by the weight of carbon they contain.

If the extraordinary growth persists, it means little progress in limiting greenhouse gases.  Scientists say the rapid growth of emissions is warming the Earth, threatening the ecology and putting human welfare at long-term risk. But their increasingly urgent pleas that society find a way to limit emissions have met sharp political resistance in many countries, including the United States, because doing so would entail higher energy costs.  Planet earth is suffering for the destruction of rainforests to create pasture lands for livestock. Take out meat from your human diet!

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Many of the world’s massive environmental problems could be solved by the reduction or elimination of meat-eating, including global warming, loss of topsoil, loss of rainforests and species extinction.  The temperature of the earth is rising. This global warming, known as “the greenhouse effect,” results primarily from carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas. Three times more fossil fuels must be burned to produce a meat-centered diet than for a meat-free diet. If people stopped eating meat, the threat of higher world temperatures would be vastly diminished. ... Meat-eating is the number one driving force for the destruction of these forests. Two-hundred and sixty million acres of U.S. forestland has been cleared for cropland to produce the meat-centered diet. Fifty-five square feet of tropical rainforest is consumed to produce every quarter-pound of rainforest beef.  An alarming 75% of all U.S. topsoil has been lost to date. Eighty-five percent of this loss is directly related to livestock raising.

 

Hinduism Today :
“How to Win an Argument with a Meat Eater”
“The Environmental Argument against meat-eating”
http://www.eatveg.com/argument.htm
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/pamphlets/WinMeatEaterArgument.html

 

OBESITY? THAT’S NOT THE MAIN ISSUE

LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
(NOT OBESITY) IS THE PROBLEM

London, UK (The Guardian) - Almost a quarter of British women are obese, and nearly as many men, according to the European health interview survey published by the EU’s statistical office Eurostat. Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver continues his campaign to improve school food, asking the prime minister to ensure that academies don’t undermine it, and again focusing on “rocketing obesity rates in the UK”.  But we’re getting the focus wrong. Obesity isn’t what’s robbing us of good health and life. Using data from the Cooper Centre Longitudinal Study exercise scientist Steven Blair and his colleagues have established that you can be fat and fit. It is better to be overweight and active than normal weight and sedentary in terms of risk of mortality, the research has shown.  Instead of paying attention to our sedentary lifestyles, we keep on focusing on fatness, Blair says.  As individuals, we just can’t resist stepping on the scales and it’s a staple of weight-loss programmes.

Physical activity is almost always a secondary consideration, and then only because of its power to help us lose weight. This narrow focus is repeated in campaigns and the media, but the obsession with how much people weigh and how much they need to lose just isn’t helping us lead longer and healthier lives, or reducing the burden on the health service.  Making up our half an hour of not being sedentary does take an effort, but at least it can be achieved in manageable 10-minute blocks, can be made part of life without having to find fresh hours in the day - and above all has the merit of being in our control. A pill that promised the same effect as just 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity each day would make headlines around the world: yet the benefits are available now for those who change their routines, and it’s free to do it.

Studies have shown that you can be fat and fit. So why are we obsessing about what we eat rather than how much we move? Anti-obesity campaigns should focus on the benefits of exercise.  Physical inactivity is the biggest health problem of the 21st century.  It isn’t about getting everyone running marathons, or setting aside the time and money they don’t have to go to the gym.  Instead, we need to put back physical activities that modern life has removed into our daily routines. One option is Hatha Yoga, which can also be practiced to fight stress, improve health and increase welfare.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Hatha-yoga is one of the first types of yoga with which people become acquainted. However, it is not a separate system of yoga as many people seem to think. It is one of the eight steps of Raja-yoga. Nonetheless, it can be used separately if only for helping keep the body and mind fit and in shape.  Hatha-yoga is described in such early texts as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita. Lord Shiva is said to be the originator of the system found in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. This is highly regarded by the Nath tradition founded by Gorakshnath and his teacher Matyendranath, who was accepted to be a disciple of Lord Shiva.  Although it is a part of a spiritual process, when taken as an isolated exercise technique it can be completely secular as well. Thus, it is practically non-denominational and non-sectarian. Anyone from any background can use it and acquire its benefits.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Yoga and How to Get Started” - “Hatha-Yoga”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com
http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/yoga_and_how_to_get_started.htm

DERAILING DURBAN’S CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

DEBT AND DOUBT LOOM LARGE
OVER DURBAN CLIMATE TALKS

(Reuters) - Economic crisis and the top three polluters China, the United States and India, loomed as obstacles to a new global deal at the start of a second make-or-break week of U.N. climate talks in the South African city of Durban.  After preliminary discussion, serious doubt hangs over the future of the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period on tackling climate change expires at the end of next year.  The other major issue is how to drum up finance to help poorer nations adapt to a warmer planet, while the developed world wrestles with sovereign debt problems. China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, gave a lift to the climate talks at the end of last week by suggesting it might sign up to a legally-binding deal to cut emissions, but it has set conditions.  “China has talked about a legally binding deal after 2020. The question is if China will be legally-bound,” Connie Hedegaard, EU Climate Commissioner said.  China failed to answer that question at a news conference.

China’s conditions include that other big emitters sign up and that finance is provided under a Green Climate Fund agreed at talks last year in Cancun.  The U.S. special envoy for climate change said China’s conditions were not acceptable.  In the U.S., the second largest global emitter, environmental issues have become a flashpoint for argument between Democrats and the Republicans.  A reluctant upper house, which failed to pass a climate bill last year, would block any deal to revive Kyoto. One of its issues is that the boundaries between developed and developing nations have shifted and all big emitters should now be included on an equal basis in any new agreement.  India, the third biggest carbon emitter, has also stated it is not ready for a new binding agreement.  It argues its economic development is not as strong as China’s and it should not be asked to take on legal targets for cutting emissions.

A mood of gloom is descending over the negotiations to salvage the Kyoto climate treaty.  Several developing nations called for the extension of the Kyoto Protocol, saying that the pact was the only hope for securing a global commitment to fight climate change.  Without a new commitment period, the agreements do not enforce action on lowering carbon dioxide emissions.  Even in a weak global economy, emissions - which hit record levels last year - were still rising.  Politicians and scientists made proposals but spiritualists have the solutions.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US ?

We can save the earth from further deterioration only when we can understand the root cause of the present environmental disaster. ... Recently, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report stating that the livestock business generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined. The Humane Society of the United States has taken up the issue as well, running ads in environmental magazines that show a car key and a fork. 'Which one of these contributes more to global, warming?' the ads ask. They answer the question with 'It's not the one that starts a car,' and goes on to cite the UN report. It is high time to eliminate the four major sins and our unlimited greed to strive for the real aim of gaining transcendental loving devotional service to God in His spiritual abode. God created the earth and God alone can save the earth.

Śrīla Bhakti Swarup Tirtha Mahārāja :
“Only God Can Save This Earth”
Discourse at Maryland University, USA
Gaudiya Vaishnava Association
http://www.gva.in/index.php

SHI’ITES COMMEMORATE ASHURA

MOURNERS CARRY OUT PROCESSION
RECITE ELEGIES ON EVE OF MUHARRAM

Reuters - Shi’ites Muslims around the world marked Tuesday the Day of Ashura.  Prayers signal the start of one of the most important days in the Islamic calendar. Shi’ites in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bangladesh mark the Ashura festival, commemorating the death of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Imam Hussein in 680 CE.   For Shi’ite Muslims, Ashura - the tenth day of the Islamic month of Moharram, it’s a day of mourning that commemorates the death of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein in 680 CE in the Iraqi city of Karbala.0 On this day, devout Shi’ites self-flagellate - in this case with steel-tipped flails. In Bangladesh it’s a day of celebration for the majority Sunni Muslims - a celebration of a victory for Islam through Imam Hussein’s sacrifice. But for Shi’ites it is a sad affair where, like in Afghanistan, they whip themselves in mourning until their backs bleed.

In the Iraq capital too, these Shi’ites have cut their heads with swords so they can relive the pain Hussein experienced in the fateful Battle of Karbala.  Mourners in large numbers participated in it by reciting marsiyas (elegies) and performing matam to observe the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.  Many Muslims including Shias observe fast from dawn to dusk on the ninth and tenth day of Muharram in order to pay tribute to the martyrdom attained by Imam Hussain and his companions.  Shi’ites make up only 15 percent of the world’s Muslims, and traditionally mourn for one month as part of the Ashura festival. Ashura is also observed in many other countries with sizeable Shi’ite populations, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

Shiite Muslims flagellated themselves and cut their scalps during religious rituals on the 9th day of holy Islamic month of Muharram and thousands draped in black clothes carried out the traditional Shab-e-Ashoor. The procession is taken out on evening before the 10th day of Muharram, which marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his companions at Karbala nearly 1,300 years ago.  It is said that the Day of Ashura symbolizes the humanity’s struggle against tyranny.  According to different faiths, there are different voluntary penances (tapasya) which undergo their followers.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

It has been explained that penance, sacrifice, charity and foods are divided into three categories: the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. But whether first class, second class or third class, they are all conditioned, contaminated by the material modes of nature. When they are aimed at the Supreme - om tat sat, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the eternal - they become means for spiritual elevation. In the scriptural injunctions such an objective is indicated. These three words, om tat sat, particularly indicate the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. ... Bhagavad-gītā recommends, therefore, that any work done should be done for om tat sat, or for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one performs penance, charity and sacrifice with these three words, he is acting in Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is a scientific execution of transcendental activities which enables one to return home, back to Godhead.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Bhagavad-gītā As It Is”
Chapter 17: “The Divisions of Faith” - Verse 23
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

BOOGAARD, 28, HAD DEGENERATIVE BRAIN DISEASE

NHL ROUNDUP: DEREK BOOGAARD
SUFFERED FROM BRAIN AILMENT

New York - Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain ailment related to Alzheimer’s disease that is caused by repeated blows to the head, the New York Times reported.  The 28-year-old Boogaard, who died in May of an accidental overdose of alcohol and oxycodone, was found to have had CTE - which can be diagnosed only after the death of the patient.  Such damage in someone as young as Boogaard was surprising. Symptoms of the condition include memory loss, impulsiveness, mood swings, and addiction. Prominent Toronto neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Tator says the news that scientists examining enforcer Derek Boogaard’s brain were shocked to see the extent of brain damage in a player so young is a warning sign the National Hockey League (NHL) - the professional ice hockey league - had better heed. 

The New York Times reported that Boogaard’s family was told last month he was sufferingly so badly from the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.) he would have likely suffered middle-age dementia had he lived.  The disease was more advanced in Boogaard than it was in famed enforcer Bob Probert, who died of heart failure in 2010 at 45.  Reggie Fleming, who was 73, and 59-year-old Rick Martin, were other hockey players who were found to have CTE.  Dr. Tator said this latest news was further evidence the culture of hockey needs changing.  “We’re ruining our great resources in hockey - and by that I mean star players,” said Tator, who heads up ThinkFirst, which is dedicated to preventing brain and spinal injuries in youth.  And at least for the foreseeable future, NHL players will still fight. There were five fights in the five NHL games played Monday night. The beat goes on.

“Why are we ruining the lives of these young people and putting a cloud over their future by allowing hits to the head? We need to reduce them. This new case is another reason to ratchet up the campaign against hits to the head,” Dr. Tator said.  More than 20 dead former NFL players and many boxers have had C.T.E. diagnosed. It generally hollowed out the final years of their lives into something unrecognizable to loved ones.  Undoubtedly, the culture of ice hockey, boxing and other violent sports needs to be changed; human life is too valuable to be wasted.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Human life is an opportunity to overcome ignorance and selfishness, and therefore it can not be put at risk. To take full advantage, you have to work through the methods provided by the sages. Currently, it is imposed the general idea that "You have to enjoy the world." But the concept of enjoyment is dangerous, self-destructive and, in turn, makes people risk their lives. ... When we serve the Supreme Truth, we can experience the maximum satisfaction of human life, because we experience ananda, which is the happiness that arises when dealing with topics of the soul. ... It is very important to rely on the wise and embrace this opportunity, taking away from the materialistic activities which only bring desolation. Wake up, sleeping soul, awake, this is the call that God does to human beings to developed and perfected spiritually.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Dangerous Fun” - “Fictitious Happiness”
http://bhaktipedia.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.diversiones_peligrosas

WITCHES IN THE US AIR FORCE?

US AIR FORCE ACADEMY ADAPTS TO
PAGANS, DRUIDS, WITCHES AND WICCANS

Colorado Springs (latimes.com) - In the still of a cold November evening, a small gathering of pagans, led by two witches, begins preparations for the coming winter solstice. But these are not just any pagans, and this is not just any setting. They are future officers of the United States Air Force practicing their faith in the basement of the Air Force Academy's cadet chapel. According to the Air Force academy's enrollment records, only three of 4,300 cadets identified themselves as pagans, followers of an ancient religion that generally does not worship a single god and considers all things in nature interconnected. Still, the academy this year dedicated an $80,000 outdoor worship center - a small Stonehenge-like circle of boulders with propane fire pit - high on a hill for the handful of current or future cadets whose religions fall under the broad category of "Earth-based." Those include pagans, Wiccans, druids, witches and followers of Native American faiths. "We're here to accommodate all religions, period," Chaplain Maj. Darren Duncan, branch chief of cadet faith communities at the academy, says. 


The building of the Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle on the hilltop, he explains, is no different from the past conversion of chapel rooms into worship spaces that serve this year's 11 Muslim, 16 Buddhist and 10 Hindu cadets. There are also 43 self-identified atheist cadets whose beliefs, or lack of them, Chaplain Duncan says are also to be respected. This is not about religious tolerance - a phrase Duncan, a Christian, rejects as implying that the majority religion is simply putting up with the minority. He calls it a 1st Amendment issue. If the military is to defend the Constitution, it should also be upholding its guarantee of religious freedom. "We think we are setting the standard," Duncan says. In addition to providing worship space, new policy dictates that all cadets take courses in understanding the religions of those who may someday fall under their command. Recently he's fielded calls from West Point and Annapolis about replicating the Air Force's efforts.


In 2005, the US Air Force was accused in a lawsuit of allowing aggressive proselytizing toward non-Christians, but now things have changed.  The US Air Force Academy has provided an utdoor worship center for cadets whose religions fall under the broad category of "Earth-based", which includes pagans, Wiccans, druids, witches and followers of Native American faiths. There are also old chapel rooms used now as worship spaces for Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus and Atheist Cadets are respected, too. Diversity is importat because the path to understand and love God is found in all the great spiritual teachings.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

At that time in my life I had a burning desire to understand truth, to understand who I am, and to understand God. ... I saw hypocrisy and contradictions, but I had a deep faith that in the original teachings of all these great traditions there was the same essence, the same ultimate goal. ... Not to be a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew or a Jain or a Parsi, but to love God and to be an instrument of that love in our life - and to have good character. So I studied Christianity, I studied Judaism and later in the Middle East I was studying Islam, and I was studying different branches of Buddhism and Hinduism. I wanted to find that essence. So I began to study various spiritual traditions, and I found universal truths there. And for me it wasn’t a matter of converting from one religion to another. For me it was a matter of becoming religious - of becoming actually spiritual.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Interview with Joshua Greene”
http://www.radhanathswami.com/2010/07/interview/
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  
http://radhanathswami.info/

25 DIE IN SYRIA, AS DEFECTORS BATTLE REGIME FORCES

AT LEAST 25 PEOPLE DEAD IN

INTENSIFYING SYRIA VIOLENCE

Beirut (AP) - Violence sweeping across Syria killed 25 people on Saturday, most of them in a battle between troops and a growing force of army defectors who have joined the movement to oust the autocratic president, activists said. The Arab League, meanwhile, agreed on the details of economic and diplomatic sanctions against the regime. The revolt against Bashar Assad's rule began with peaceful protests in mid-March, triggering a brutal crackdown. The unrest has steadily become bloodier as defectors and some civilians take up arms, prompting the United Nations' human rights chief to refer to it this week as a civil war and urge the international community to protect Syrian civilians. Sanctions by the United States, the European Union, Turkey and the 22-member Arab League have so far failed to blunt the turmoil, but are leaving Assad's regime increasingly isolated. Arab League ministers meeting in the Gulf nation of Qatar on Saturday to finalize the bloc's penalties agreed on a list of 19 Syrian officials subject to a travel ban. Among them are Cabinet ministers, intelligence chiefs and security officers, but the list does not include Assad.

Many of the Arab sanctions, which were first announced last Sunday, went into effect immediately, including cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank, halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria and freezing government assets. The worst violence on Saturday took place in the restive northwestern city of Idlib. The pre-dawn clashes between regime forces and defectors killed seven soldiers and policemen, as well as five defectors and three civilians, according to a British-based group of Syrian activists called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The U.N.'s top human rights official said this week that Syria is in a state of civil war and that more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. Until recently, most of the bloodshed in Syria was caused by security forces firing on mainly peaceful protesters, but there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting regime forces.

At least 25 people were reported killed in Syria Saturday as violence intensified in the eighth month of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, pushing the death toll close to 4,600.  The United Nations' top human rights forum has condemned Syria for "gross and systematic" violations by its forces, including executions and the imprisonment of some 14,000 people.  Syria faces deepening international and regional isolation, with the Arab League, the European Union and the United States piling on tougher and tougher sanctions.  In this material world no one wants suffering, violence or war, but they come.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The material world is compared to dāvānala, a forest fire. As we have experienced, no one goes to the forest to set a fire, but still it takes place. Similarly, no one within this material world wants to be unhappy. Everyone is trying to be very happy, but one is forced to accept unhappiness. In this material world, from time immemorial to the present moment, there have been occasional wars, world wars, even though people have devised various means to stop wars. When I was a young man there was the League of Nations. In 1920, after the First World War, different nations formed the League of Nations, just to arrange for peaceful living among themselves. No one wanted war, but again there was a forest fire - the Second World War. Now they have devised the United Nations, but war is still going on - the Vietnam War, the Pakistan War, and many others. So you may try your best to live very peacefully, but nature will not allow you.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :

"The Journey of Self-Discovery"

"The Spiritual Master" 

'The Bona Fide Spiritual Master'

'WE ARE ATHEISM' CAMPAIGN

ATHEISTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN
TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET

USA (RNS) - The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room. Alex Fiorentini isn't talking about girls, beer or football. Instead, it's a coming-out moment of sorts. "Is it acceptable to the majority of the population to be an atheist?" he asks the camera. "Nope. Are all of your friends going to accept you as an atheist? Probably not all of them. And yeah, those things are gonna suck. But the real question is, 'Is it OK to be me?' That is the real question if you are an atheist." For Fiorentini, a student at the University of Illinois, the answer is yes. He and scores of other atheists, young and old, have made similar videos for a new campaign designed to build community and support among nontheists around the world. Dubbed "We Are Atheism," the campaign was launched this fall by three students at the University of Kansas. About one or two videos come in each day, and daily traffic to the We Are Atheism website has climbed as high as 6,600.


"It is time for us to put up our videos and change the face of atheism. We want people to see we are normal people who have children and lives and do good in the community," said Amanda Brown, 25, one of the co-founders. Brown has heard from atheists ranging in age from 15 to 75 who say watching the videos has made them feel less isolated and, in some cases, given them courage to come out as atheists to family and friends. Brown was inspired to start the campaign with her husband and a friend when she attended a talk by Jessica Ahlquist, a teenage atheist who was taunted and bullied after she objected to a "school prayer" banner hung in her Rhode Island high school. "To those of you who are watching this video, you should know that you are not alone," says David Silverman, president of American Atheists, in his self-made video. "You should be an out atheist because it feels great. To be a closeted atheist is to tell a lie to your loved ones."

Reaction  in the atheist community to "We Are Atheism" campaign has been favorable. The Richard Dawkins Foundation, which has its own campaign encouraging atheists to go public, is supporting it on its website. "If the polls are correct, there are literally millions of nonbelievers in America," said Richard Haynes, president of Atheist Nexus. "However, many atheists feel all alone. This is the primary reason we must come out of the closet. Coming out is the only way to change the public perception of nontheism." Although atheists do not want to admit a life without God is unbearable.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The tendency to want to eliminate humanity’s sources of illumination and to exclude them; to pretend proposing that God does not exist and that all kind of revelation simply is an invention of the human intellect mixed with lies – shows what atheism is.  For this kind of atheistic thinkers, the mystic is something mundane or some kind of psychological sickness. They think, ... the technical and sociologic development, etc., is the maximum one can get in this world, … and that the cult of God, the myths distorted to mythology, are expressions from primitive people.  And this atheistic reality has infiltrated the educational ministries; media, communication and trade are used as justification to introduce the system on the free market. This can also be called “the law of the strongest”, which tries to impress the idea that there is no higher rule or order in this world, that nobody exists whom we have to obey, and that there is no authority, nothing “absolute”.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja : 
"Conscious Art" - "A Culture of Divine Love"
"Atheistic thinking"
http://www.vrindanews.com/nectar/conscious_art.html

INDIA, DIABETES AWARENESS RALLY

LITTLE AWARENESS ABOUT RISKS,
COMPLICATIONS OF DIABETES

Coimbatore, India (The Hindu) - When queried, most people seemed to be aware of the genetic factors and common symptoms of diabetes, but very few had a clear understanding of its types, risks, complications and the need for screening and early detection. As many as 300 people took part in the cycle rally and road show, conducted as part of the campaign to create awareness on diabetes. Around 75 patients from the Coimbatore Diabetes Foundation and 200 students from Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, took part in the rally. According to Dr. Sekar, founder and chief consultant diabetologist at the Coimbatore Diabetes Foundation, from 2009 to 2013 World Diabetes Day has been centered on the theme 'Diabetes Education and Prevention'. Unhealthy diet was one major cause of the disorder. People focused on reducing the quantity of food but were unaware of the caloric value of food items they consumed. "That was why we decided to focus on creating awareness among the public about this", he said. 


Around 16-18 per cent of the population in the city suffered from diabetes, Dr. Sekhar said and added that modification in lifestyle was the best way to fight it. Walking 5 km a day and a healthy diet would keep diseases away. Refrigerated food deprived it of nutritional value. Taking preserved and pre-cooked food could do more harm than good to the body, he added. Yearly check-up to detect blood sugar and cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body weight was important. Glycohaemoglobin or HbA1c test to detect long-term blood sugar level would give more accurate results, Dr. Sekar said. In Tirupur, a rally was taken out by Lotus Eye Hospital and Rotary Club of Gandhinagar to convey the message of a good lifestyle management to prevent metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Various organisations such as Lions Clubs conducted free blood sugar check-ups for the public across the city.


According to Dr. V. Sekar, Only around 10-15 per cent of people are aware of diabetes. There is very little awareness even about health indicators such as body mass index (BMI). Fast food is rich in calories and low in nutritional value whereas fruits and vegetables give sufficient nutrients free of excess calories. Volunteers from The Hindu distributed free copies of the newspaper along with pamphlets giving information on caloric value of food items.  It is an example worthy of imitation, raising awareness about healthy living and vegetarian food.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

The Ayurveda system is based more on promotion of the physical, mental, and spiritual well being and balance than on treatment of illness. Modern medicine has long paid attention to the pathological state of various ailments and has been primarily concerned with treatment of the disease and symptoms. Ayurveda, on the other hand, treats the whole being, going to the root cause of the discomfort and its aggravation and giving a basic plan of action for disease prevention. Modern medicine recently has turned its direction toward preventive aspects, thanks to the lead given by Ayurveda and other allied alternative systems. ... The interaction of the body humors, called doshas, determines the physical as well as the mental makeup of an individual. The therapy is essentially directed at wholesome vegetarian food, a righteous and pure living style, and natural healing remedies. A long and healthy life is essentially linked to a moral and ethical lifestyle that promotes peace of mind.

Dr. Hiro Badlani:

“Hinduism – Path of the Ancient Wisdom”

Chapter 47: “Ayurveda - The Most Ancient Medical Science”

http://hinduismpath.com/ 

http://hinduismpath.com/book-contents/chapter-47/

WORLD AIDS DAY MARKS 30 YEARS

WORLD AIDS DAY: 30 YEARS
SINCE BRITAIN'S FIRST DIAGNOSIS

www.telegraph.co.uk - On June 5th 1981, a medical journal in the States documented a mysterious illness that had killed five men in Los Angeles. It was the first reference to what would later be known as Aids and by December of that year - exactly 30 years ago this month - the first case of Aids was diagnosed in the UK. Today marks not only that anniversary, but also World Aids Day which, since 1988 has been observed around the world to commemorate those who have died from the disease and also to raise awareness of the issue and to raise funds for continued research into a possible cure and treatment. Over 86,500 people in the UK are currently living with HIV, part of a world-wide epidemic of which the World Health Authority (WHO) estimates more than 30 million adults and close to 3 million children are sufferers. In the last 30 years, Aids has claimed many lives in the UK and in 2011 86,500 are HIV positive, four times as many as in 1993.


Despite this, AIDS diagnoses have halved in the same time period thanks to advances in treatment as doctors have been able to combat the HIV virus with a growing armory of anti-retroviral medication. While 30 years ago an HIV/Aids diagnoses was seen as a death sentence, today HIV/AIDS is now considered a chronic condition rather than a fatal disease. This week the government announced it has launched a consultation about changing the current restrictions on doctors and dentists with HIV working in the NHS. A working group has recommended that those with HIV should be allowed to undertake “exposure prone procedures” provided they are taking antiretroviral drugs and are being monitored. There have been no reported transmissions in Britain, despite more than 25 cases in the last 12 years where a patient has been exposed to an HIV-infected doctor, dentist or other health worker. More than 10,000 patients have been tested.

Thursday, December 1st marks the 23rd anniversary of World AIDS Day, commemorating the 25 million people around the world who have died from the disease since the first reported cases in 1981.  There have been significant treatment advances since then and the number of people with HIV who get AIDS has decreased over time because of advances in medical care and ART. Still, more than 16,000 people with AIDS die each year. AIDS, caused by our erroneous living - especially irresponsible sex - oblige us to get conscious and change for better.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Every religious system every religious path that is actually authorized teaches how to clean your heart, how to purify your mind, how to see your true eternal self in the mirror of your consciousness. First thing is we have to stop throwing dirt in our mind by our activities. We should live according to ethical, moral principles. We should live in a spirit of service to others rather than exploitation of others. Within our society we follow four very very essential principles, no intoxications because intoxications destroy one’s physical and mental health and put huge amount of contamination to obscure our spiritual nature. We are already intoxicated by so many misconceptions. We want to wake up to our true self. We are responsible as human beings. No illicit sex. Today so many anxieties, so many diseases, so many frustrations are born of just unrestricted passion and lust. AIDS, Hepatitis, so many of these incurable diseases that are killing tens and millions are born of intoxication and illicit sex. Some warning is there. We are supposed to try to control our mind and senses.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :

“Conquering The Greatest Enemy”

http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/content/conquering-greatest-enemy-radhanath-swami

http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/